Utilitarian vest for infants

ABSTRACT

The overlapping ends of a rectangular wrap formed from quilted material are secured to one another to envelope the torso of an infant. A pair of shoulder straps extend adjacent one another from a location at the rear midpoint of the wrap over the infant&#39;s shoulders to locations proximate the respective ends. A bib is attached to the straps to hang at the back of the infant and is relocateable at a time of feeding to hang across the front of the infant. One or more straps extend from the front of the wrap and removably support a bib, toys or other articles as play things for the infant. A thermal insulating layer may be removably attached to the inside of the wrap for warmth.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to clothing for infants and, more particularly, to a vest for an infant and having utilitarian functions.

2. Description of Related Prior Art

Many articles of clothing for infants have been developed for centuries. Some of these articles of clothing are primarily directed to providing warmth. These include papoose-like articles which only expose the face of the infant. Other articles are pillowcase-like to provide freedom of movement therewithin and yet expose only the face of the infant for breathing and feeding purposes. Some articles of clothing are one-piece for enclosing the torso with separate legs and arms for the infant; some of these may include a hood. Numerous types of articles in the form of pants or the like have been developed to permit changing diapers without nearly completely undressing the infant. Numerous articles of clothing emulate clothing for adults with appropriate adjustments for the body shape of an infant. Very many articles have been developed in the nature of a bib to prevent spilled and dropped food from soiling the underlying clothing. Some of these bibs include pockets for catching articles of food.

Vests have been developed for infants which are similar to like articles of clothing for maturing children and adults, which articles are primarily for purposes of style although some may provide a degree of warmth. Generally, however, vests for infants serve primarily only for purposes of style and/or warmth.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A vest, formed from a rectangular section of quilted material, includes fastenings at opposed ends for fastening the vest at the front of the infant to encircle the torso. Each of a pair of straps extends from the rear center of the vest to one of the ends of the vest to prevent the straps from sliding off the shoulders of the infant. A plurality of ribbons are attached to the overlapping front end of the vest for removably supporting a pacifier and various toys of interest to the infant. A bib is removably attached to the straps at the rear to depend downwardly out of reach of the infant. During feeding, the location of the bib is reversed to place it in front beneath the infant's mouth. For purposes of warmth, a removable liner may be attached to the inside of the vest.

It is therefore a primary object of the prevent invention to provide a multipurpose vest for an infant.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vest for an infant useable over other clothing the infant may wear.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide shoulder straps for supporting an infant vest that will not slide off the shoulders of the infant.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a vest supporting a repositionable bib to locate it out of reach of the infant during non-use.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a vest for an infant having a removable liner for purposes of warmth.

A yet further object of the present invention is to provide ribbons attached to the vest for detachably supporting a pacifier and other articles of interest to the infant.

A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a vest for an infant of quilted material to reduce the likelihood of bunching of the vest during movement by the infant.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description thereof proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described with greater specificity and clarity with reference to the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an infant wearing a vest corresponding with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the vest;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the vest illustrating a bib extending along the backside;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the vest illustrating the bib extending along the front of the vest; and

FIG. 5 illustrates the inside of the vest and a detachably attached liner.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an infant 10 seated upon a cushion 12 wearing vest 14 over an undershirt 16 or the like. A plurality of ribbons, such as ribbons 18, 20, and 22 are attached to and depend from the vest and are terminated by rings 24, 26, and 28, respectively. Preferably, each of these rings are split in order to permit detachable attachment of various items for infant 10 to play with. For example, a toy 30 may be supported by ring 24. A pacifier 32 may be supported by ring 26. Ring 28 may be absent a toy to permit the baby to grasp it, as illustrated. By attaching pacifier 32 to ring 26, it will always be attached to vest 14, whether in the mouth of the baby or hanging freely from the vest. Thereby, it is readily available and there is no likelihood of it dropping to the floor, the ground or otherwise out of reach. Any toys attached to ring 24 and/or ring 28 are for the amusement of the baby. By being attached to vest 14, the likelihood of loss or unavailability to the baby is eliminated.

Vest 14 will be described with particular reference to FIG. 2. The vest itself is formed as a wrap of rectangularly shaped material 40. It has been learned that the best material is quilted material, as represented by dashed lines 42 and 44. However, other material will also serve for the vest. End 46 and end 50 are secured to one another with a closure device, which may be a hook and loop fastener (such as sold under the trademark Velcro), buttons, snaps, etc. For example, end 46 of material 40 may include one part 48 of a hook and loop fastener and end 50 of the material includes the other part 52 of the hook and loop fastener, as shown. Thereby, ends 46 and 50 are readily attachably detachable from one another upon placing the vest about the infant or removing it from the infant, respectively.

To retain vest 14 upon the infant, a pair of shoulder straps 54, 56 are used. It has been learned that the best results are obtained if rear ends 58, 60 of straps 54, 56, respectively, are mounted adjacent one another at approximately the rear center of material 40. The other end 62 of strap 54 is attached to material 40 not too far from end 50. Similarly, end 64 of strap 56 is attached to material 40 not too far from end 46. By having ends 58, 60 of straps 54, 56, respectively, attached adjacent one another or even in overlapped relationship to one another at the rear center of the vest, the straps tend not to slide off the sloping shoulders of the infant.

As shown jointly in FIGS. 1 and 2, ribbons 18, 20, and 22 are attached to material 40 to support rings to which may be attached various toys, pacifier, etc. Alternatively, these toys, pacifier, etc. may be attached directly to respective ones of these ribbons. A pocket 66 may be included to receive and retain any of various items.

Referring jointly to FIGS. 3 and 4, a detachably attached bib 70 will be described. As is conventional, the bib includes a central section 72 and a pair of bib straps 74, 76 extending therefrom. A snap 78 detachably attaches the end of bib strap 74 to strap 56. A similar snap 80 detachably attaches the end of bib strap 76 to strap 54. In this configuration, bib 70 is to the rear of the infant and essentially inaccessible to the infant to prevent removal of the bib by tugging on it. During feeding, bib straps 74, 76 may be folded forwardly to place central section 72 at the front of the vest and beneath the mouth of the infant. Preferably, however, snaps 78, 80 are dual function to permit detachment of bib straps 74, 76 and reattachment to lay bib straps 74, 76 adjacent straps 56, 54, respectively, as shown in FIG. 4. As illustrated, bib 70 may include a small pocket 82 located on the functional side of the bib.

Vest 14 is intended to be placed over a shirt or other clothing worn by the infant, as depicted in FIG. 1. As such, it will provide a degree of thermal insulation to ensure that the infant is not cold. To enhance thermal insulation of vest 14, an insert 90 may be detachably attached to the inside surface 92 of material 40. Such attachment may be by a hook and loop fasteners 94, 96 disposed at each end of the insert, as illustrated in FIG. 5. Thereby, vest 14 can be used for not only its functional purposes but also as a garment to ensure that the infant stays warm. 

1. A utilitarian vest for an infant, said vest comprising: (a) a material essentially rectangular in planform and having a pair of ends; (b) a closure device disposed at said pair of ends for closing said material about the torso of the infant; (c) a pair of shoulder straps extending from a location proximate an edge of said material and generally at the midpoint between said pair of ends, one of said shoulder straps extending to and being attached at a location generally proximate one end of said pair of ends and the other of said shoulder straps extending to and being attached at a location generally proximate the other end of said pair of ends; and (d) a plurality of ribbons attached to and depending from said material and having a free end for supporting elements of interest to the infant.
 2. The vest as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pair of ends are overlapped to engage said closure device.
 3. The vest as set forth in claim 1 wherein said shoulder straps are attached adjacent one another at the location at the edge of said material.
 4. The vest as set forth in claim 3 wherein said shoulder straps partly overlap one another at the location at the edge of said material.
 5. The vest as set forth in claim 1 wherein a ring is attached to at least one of the depending ones of said plurality of ribbons.
 6. The vest as set forth in claim 5 wherein each said ring is detachable from the respective ribbon of said plurality of ribbons.
 7. The vest as set forth in claim 1 including a bib detachably attached to said pair of shoulder straps.
 8. The vest as set forth in claim 7 including snaps for attaching said bib to said pair of shoulder straps.
 9. The vest as set forth in claim 8 wherein said bib is attachable in a first state out of reach of the infant and in a second state beneath the infant's face.
 10. A vest for an infant, said vest comprising: (a) a rectangular piece of material having a top edge, a bottom edge and two ends terminated by respective ones of two side edges; (b) a first shoulder strap extending from a location proximate the center of said top edge to said top edge proximate one side edge of said two side edges; (c) a second shoulder strap extending from a location proximate the center of said top edge to said top edge proximate the other side edge of said two side edges; (d) a closure device for detachably attaching said two ends to one another in an overlapped relationship to envelop the torso of the infant with said material; and (e) a plurality of ribbons extending from the overlapping end of said two ends and having free ends for supporting selected articles of interest to the infant.
 11. The vest as set forth in claim 10 wherein said closure device comprises a hook and loop fastener.
 12. The vest as set forth in claim 10 wherein said material is quilted material.
 13. The vest as set forth in claim 10 wherein said first and second shoulder straps extend adjacent one another from a location on said top edge.
 14. The vest as set forth in claim 10 wherein said first and second shoulder straps at least partially overlap one another at the location on said top edge.
 15. The vest as set forth in claim 10 wherein each ribbon of said plurality of ribbons includes a removable ring.
 16. The vest as set forth in claim 10 including a pocket secured to said overlapping end.
 17. The vest as set forth in claim 10 including a bib detachably attached to said first and second shoulder straps in one state to depend downwardly adjacent the center of said top edge and in another state to depend downwardly adjacent the overlapping end of said two ends.
 18. The vest as set forth in claim 17 including snaps for securing said bib to each of said first and second shoulder straps.
 19. The vest as set forth in claim 17 wherein said material is quilted material.
 20. The vest as set forth in claim 19 wherein said first and second shoulder straps are of quilted material. 